
iRobot - i3
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Feb 15, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
10
3
"I would do it again just for the dog hair. ... It’s a dog hair sweeper and it does a damn good job at that."
"I've had my roomba for like 5 years now.. We have 3 big dogs and a cat, in a small house. Still works great, I've replaced the brushes and obviously the filters on it but it still works awesome."
"Our irobot roomba gobbles pet hair"
4
0
"Same here the i3 is awesome. ... I bought a parts kit on amazon for super cheap and it has really come in handy. ... I replaced the roller, even though it didn't need it after 3-4 years of use. ... The brush up front I've had to replace twice."
"there is lifetime support that I use once to replace the battery"
"Every part is easily replaced ... It's still robust and serviceable"
5
2
"Roomba i3 for around 5 years and still better than my new shark robot."
"Same here the i3 is awesome. ... I bought a parts kit on amazon for super cheap and it has really come in handy. ... I replaced the roller, even though it didn't need it after 3-4 years of use. ... The brush up front I've had to replace twice."
"Honestly hardware reliability is the only thing Roomba has going for them. ... I've owned numerous robot vacuums and every single one has failed after about a year except for this POS Roomba i3 that I literally HATE lol. ... I've frisbeed that POS across the room so many times and it just keeps running ... even the bearing on the end of the roller seized up and melted and I just ignore it and it keeps chugging along not knowing where it is half the time."
4
1
"I upgraded to a roomba with the self emptying thing and I love it."
"Get robot vacuum that empties into its own base. ... Some days it just has to empty its self over and over and over (coat blowing season)."
"We’ve used a self emptying Roomba for years. ... one pass on the floor and the internal bin will fill with fur and dust. ... 3 dogs, a Basset, a Lab, and a Terrier. All are moderate shedders and fur accumulation is a problem."
Disliked most:
1
4
"not knowing where it is half the time"
"it often wouldn’t start for no clear reason"
"it starts just wadding up hair and leaving it in chunks"
0
2
"the bearing on the end of the roller seized up and melted"
"it starts just wadding up hair and leaving it in chunks"
0
1
"Twice a month I’ll use my cordless vacuum and it picks up a bit"
I have the Roborock Qrevo Plus, and it has been amazing! I have light colored floors and a black Dane and black Cocker. The robot runs every night and every morning we have clean floors. I have a 8 month old baby who is crawling so am also on the floor a lot and I’m always amazed by how spotless they are! Mapping was quick and painless, and I hardly ever have to intervene or rescue it. I also have a iRobot i3 and it’s a night and day difference. App is easy to use, and we have had it for just about a year and have had no problems. Refill clean water and dump dirty mop water once a week. Obstacle avoidance seems to work pretty well too, no incidents yet!
I owned iRobot i3 - worked fine, but only real sensor - was front bumper, so he was “dumb”. Best thing about iRobot is that you can replace every part without 3rd party help. I had it for several years, not a single problem whatsoever.
In case of i3 there was no problem with hair on the rollers. I cleaned hair from tips of the roller from time to time, but that was like 30sec cleanup. More hairs were collected in the front wheel, but it was removable and easily cleaned.
I have an irobot i3 and it runs every day without issues. The replacement rollers and filters are available cheap on Amazon. It collects plenty of debris and cat hair, mix of carpets and hard floors.
Our irobot roomba gobbles pet hair and it's a basic i3 model. You have a roborock budget though and reddit is going to steer you towards that or just tell you to get a Miele vacuum.
A robovac to me is not a substitute for vacuuming thoroughly once at least every other week. It helps keep little things off the floor, and gives you inspiration to pick up if you need it. I have a roomba i3 that cleans very well on carpet and hard floors, but yes you do have to make sure there are not loose cords or other objects around, I consider that a good thing. If you're looking to uplift fibers a cordless vacuum isn't the solution at anything lower than the highest price points. Cheap cordless vacuums are sweepers at best.
We have the i3 without the tower. It works ok. It helps, it still doesn’t get everything but it makes the floors look ok for a minute.
I had an i3 and it wasnt great. I upgraded to the 705 and I friggin love this one.
Any models with dual rollers imo. Any with single rollers dont do well with picking it up and get stuck with dog hair, even if they advertise not doing so. I've had i3 and it did fine and now I have 705 and it does even better.
I bought a roomba i3 in 2020, and it's still working fine Every part is easily replaced, and there is lifetime support that I use once to replace the battery Although that was before it was bought by Amazon, I don't know if it's still the same
Oh! I didn't know It's still robust and serviceable, but yeah, parts might be hard to find soon
Just got mine for 85$ a couple weeks ago. It was pretty beatup. But I cleaned it up, replaced rollers, filters, and tires. Also took apart the base and cleaned it up. The thing is a beast. I had a i3 for a while so maybe that why it feels like such an upgrade. U could tell they definitely went all out on it
For vac only, especially on carpet the roomba i3 on Amazon in like new condition was $70 last week. It’s $100 now but worth keeping an eye on it for a really cheap vacuum only robot. Especially on carpet the roomba 2 roller vacs do really well.
100%. I got a roomba i3 for under $50 and it vacuums on carpet really well. The roller design matters a lot, can’t believe some higher end models still have a single roller. Even with the patent expiring they still cheap out.
Roomba i3 on Amazon like new for $60. The base station came very used and clogged, complained to Amazon and got a full refund without having to return it. Does pretty well for my upstairs carpet only.
I beta tested a shark and an update randomly disconnected it from the app and it would not connect again and their beta test support was useless in getting it reconnected. Tried blaming it on my mesh system. I went as far as to get a stand alone router/wifi from my internet provider and hook that up and try to connect it that way and still the same thing. The app would freeze once it found the robot, even after updates. I really liked how the vacuum worked up until then but I’d never buy one after that. My 600 series Roomba and i3 Roomba have never had Wi-Fi issues on any of our network iterations over the years. I ended up buying a Eufy over Black Friday.
I have roomba i3 and i7, both with a docking station and 2 Golden’s retrievers. Once a week I remove and clean the ends of the rollers and vacuum the collection bin and filter for the fine layer of dust that forms. They do a good job on wall to wall carpet and laminate flooring with area rug.
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